Savory Oyster Dressing

INGREDIENTS

One or two days in advance: Make cornbread using your favorite recipe or one from The Lee Bother's Cookbooks, which are fundamental recipes for all things southern. Let cornbread sit for a day or two.

For the Pudding and Oyster Dressing

One pan of cornbread

2 cups raw oysters

2 cups chicken stock

2 eggs

1 cup chopped onion

Small can of artichoke hearts, rough chopped

½ cup chopped celery

Tablespoon dried or fresh sage (or Thyme if preferred)

1 clove minced garlic

1 ½ sticks butter

1 cup chopped mushrooms

Salt and Pepper

½ tsp. Kosher Salt

PROCEDURE

Preheat Oven to 350. Grease casserole dish or muffin tin.

Remove cornbread from the pan into a large mixing bowl and break apart but do not crumble into tiny pieces. You want to leave it large enough to create a nice texture and appearance.

Melt one stick of butter over medium heat and add the onion, celery, garlic and mushrooms to the pan of butter. Stir and cook lightly on medium heat for about five minutes.

Pour the mixture into the cornbread. Add artichoke hearts. Add a tablespoon of fresh or dried sage (or thyme if preferred).

Melt the other ½ stick butter. Rough chop oysters if using a muffin pan to ensure they are distributed throughout the dressing.

Add the oysters to the cornbread mixture and lightly stir. Add chicken stock, oyster liquor, melted butter and the two eggs lightly beaten. Test moisture and add more stock if needed to make sure the cornbread is moist and can form a ball. Add about 1.5 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Add the mixture to the greased casserole dish or muffin pan. Don't press down hard on the muffins in the tin; you want to retain some airiness, but you can press lightly.